Thursday storm brings flooding, tornadoes to region
The Thursday afternoon commute in northeastern Kansas was a thoroughly wet one, with observers in the Holton area reporting about three to four inches of rain and some hail falling over a few hours’ time.
And although the Holton area woke up to a few rays of sunshine on Friday morning, there was still the threat of afternoon storms to deal with — especially with the possibility of Glory Days activities being disrupted.
The National Weather Service issued an early Friday statement noting the possibility for more severe storms in northeastern Kansas that afternoon, some with the likelihood of large hail and damaging winds, albeit not quite as severe as storms that passed through the area earlier in the week.
However, rains received in the area caused rivers and creeks to move out of their beds and toward and over some roads, with Elk Creek briefly rising over old U.S. Highway 75 (North Vermont Avenue) north of Holton. The Kansas Department of Transportation also noted a handful of highways east of Jackson County were closed due to floodwaters coming over the road.
“The rain just came all at one time and caused a lot of problems,” Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse said Friday morning. “I’m sure that water is going to recede at some point.”
Northeastern Kansas was also placed under a flash flood watch until Saturday morning, while at least one body of water in Jackson County — Soldier Creek near Delia — was placed under flood warning. The creek’s flood stage is 26 feet; on Thursday evening, the creek was up to 24.4 feet and was expected to crest at 26.3 feet by Friday morning, falling below flood stage later in the day.
Thursday afternoon saw southern Jackson County being placed under a severe thunderstorm warning after law enforcement officers noted torrential rains and “ping pong ball-sized hail” falling along U.S. Highway 75 near the Jackson-Shawnee county line.
Northwestern Jackson County also was placed under a severe thunderstorm warning that afternoon. And in Holton, residents noted pea-sized hailstones falling at times with the rain, and several streets were flooded by the afternoon’s precipitation, including Fourth Street.
Elsewhere in the county, Morse noted several stretches of road that were closed due to flooding, including a section of 142nd Road between D and E roads that was “completely washed out.” Morse also reported that apart from some trees down in the vicinity of U.S. 75 and 190th Road, there were “not too many reports of storm damage” in the county.
More severe weather was noted to the west in Pottawatomie County, where storm spotters sighted as many as three tornadoes in the Wamego and Louisville areas. It was reported that the tornadoes in Pottawatomie County didn’t hit any homes directly, although several homes in that area did sustain related damage.
Thursday’s storms were also much less severe than the storm system that moved through the Abilene and Chapman areas on Wednesday, when an EF4 tornado tore through the area and demolished eight homes in rural Dickinson County and two in Ottawa County. Only a few minor injuries were reported as a result of the tornado.
